Driving With Traction Control Off

Blimpcity said:
I turn off the traction control in my Si regularly.

I had a situation where I was making a left turn on to a very busy 2-lane highway when leaving work. The traction control was on so when I made a quick acceleration, the traction control engaged and made the car hesitate significantly. Needless to say, I was trying to merge into traffic and this hesitation made me very uncomfortable (feeling like a being stuck on train tracks when a train is coming).

I understand the safety nature of the the traction control, but when it engages (at least in this context), it clearly can become a safety hazard. I had a distinct feeling of powerlessness and irritation because the car was not doing what I was telling it to do. The saving grace here is that Honda gives you the option to deactivate it...I hope this is always the case.
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Yep, same thing happened to me with my previous car which was the 2009 Honda CRV. I gunned it but the car wouldn't move very fast so I was like what the hell? It put me in a bad situation for a couple of seconds. Lucky the driver near me backed off quickly so I can merge.

Now I know why it does this. I guess TC works when properly used.
 
Monk said:
Very educational about auto' trans'..... What, at this time, I was thinking, it didn't do the Hes' off the stop or while idle driving when I turned both the econ and TC off. But from what you all are saying, I'm going to go out tomorrow and go to this big church parking lot and see what's up. Also didn't know auto' had to build pressure. (next stop goggle auto transmission)
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Most newer transmission have variable line pressure (i think that's what its called). And also don't forget that autos have a torque converter. That piece works strictly off how fast its spinning. It won't start grabbing until a certain rpm, so if the drive by wire lags a little like they all do then that could amplify it.
 
Monk said:
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying/asking? Are so saying you've never seen a econ mode on our cars. ? I really don't know what the question/statement is.
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I'm sorry that I was not clear. I've personally never been very economical . . .
 
I took it off today for my normal spirited drive to work to get me excited. I noticed that I love the si without it! In the 8th gen did not notice a real difference, but this one makes a whole lot of difference
 
Bulkybear said:
Most newer transmission have variable line pressure (i think that's what its called). And also don't forget that autos have a torque converter. That piece works strictly off how fast its spinning. It won't start grabbing until a certain rpm, so if the drive by wire lags a little like they all do then that could amplify it.
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Now this sounds like what's happening more than anything...... Thanks.
 
colint said:
I'm sorry that I was not clear. I've personally never been very economical . . .
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So you're saying you don't use econ, or drive economically ? No problem/issue just wanted to know what you meant..... THX
 
Kurt Muehlbauer said:
I took it off today for my normal spirited drive to work to get me excited. I noticed that I love the si without it! In the 8th gen did not notice a real difference, but this one makes a whole lot of difference
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The added torque makes it a lot easier to induce some amount of wheel spin. So if your getting on it you'll probably be engaging the TC more so than in the 8th. At least on the Si trim.
 
take a turn in the rain with it off going 35mph and with it on its for people who cant drive the vehicle within the correct limits or in the event they happen to oversteer or understeer the car on accident. it is supposed to provide traction also by limiting the power when one wheel is going faster than the other
 
Monk said:
So you're saying you don't use econ, or drive economically ? No problem/issue just wanted to know what you meant..... THX
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Sorry for the confusion Monk. Got no econ button. Tried hyper-mile-ing in the Si and did not have the same fun as driving like I stole it. I don't eat very economically either . . . and drink @ ten bottles of water a day . . . but I'm an excellent recycler in all respects!
 
Michael Hogains said:
hypermiling in the si does pay off at the pump when not having fun. it is hard to do i understand but from 22 having fun to 35 not having fun is a huge difference
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1. Not hard to do.
2. 25 is worst mileage
3. 35 huge diff?

Not really. I could've found a spiffy used geo metro. Thanks for your insight though.
 
No matter what I do I'm getting better mileage in my Si compared to my charger so I'm happy. If you were that concerned with mileage then you wouldn't have bought the performance trim lol. Also, what's hypermiling?
 
Michael Hogains said:
hypermiling in the si does pay off at the pump when not having fun. it is hard to do i understand but from 22 having fun to 35 not having fun is a huge difference
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I was never able to get more than 32 in mine :) I do mostly street driving so that might explain it also. I also don't bother too much with it, I do not squeeze every drop of power every time I drive but I keep it fun, sometimes more relaxed sometimes not so much ;)
 
Since I started thinking on hypermiling now I think for some situations where you have to change speed like some hilly windy road a Si may be more fuel efficient than a 1.8 since it can change speed with less effort so the increased consumption from a bigger engine is offset by the less energy needed to keep up with the demands. Interesting :)
 
Dragos said:
Since I started thinking on hypermiling now I think for some situations where you have to change speed like some hilly windy road a Si may be more fuel efficient than a 1.8 since it can change speed with less effort so the increased consumption from a bigger engine is offset by the less energy needed to keep up with the demands. Interesting :)
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This is true. Some 4 cylinders where I live get the same mileage as the v8s do because of the hilly roads here.
 
That's hyper mile ing , not hyper milling.

There are ppl that have the money to drive to the max, and ppl that don't.............. I fall into the "Don't".......... I use to be in a position years ago where how much I spent on gas and tyres didn't matter, and it's fun to enjoy it.

But now that I'm in the conservative position I have found it's different but not necessary a negative, and I'm not going to try and talk others out of their fun......... Just be safe.

I do find getting the best mileage out of my car is a challenge now since I need the money anyway. In a earlier post I did keep my mileage above 40mpg for a tank(1.8 engine), which I thought was pretty good considering some of these test mag. drivers couldn't get that much.

Also when living in England and buying gas on base at 23 cents a gallon, I could drive all over the UK at whatever speed I wanted(out of towns), great fun. I had my time and there are more nuts on the roads now days(texting), not to mention deer, so I'm learning to enjoy the other things my car has to offer. Automatic, such as it is, and all these gadgets.
 
Bulkybear said:
No matter what I do I'm getting better mileage in my Si compared to my charger so I'm happy. If you were that concerned with mileage then you wouldn't have bought the performance trim lol. Also, what's hypermiling?
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Thank you for bringing some balls to the conversation. The other poster may or may not have an Si. Hyper-mileing is driving extravagantly slowly . . . it's eco- freindly, so as to eke out every drop of energy from a gallon of gas . . . it's drafting cars and trucks ahead of you by crawling up their asses and staying plastered to their bumpers with a mean face and white knuckles; it's coasting on flats and downhill, to the annoyance of every other car behind, as they have to ride their brakes to avoid hitting you; it's coasting from 55mph down to whatever, let's say 3mph (?) when you see a red light off in the distance, so that you don't "waste" gas driving the speed limit up to the light, only to stop and "waste" more gas getting back up to speed. Yeah, it's coasting for a minute or so until the light changes to green way up ahead of you. That's hypermileing. It may be somebody's idea of a good time, but to my mind, it's a totally selfish, idiotic way to drive a sports car. But, hey, if you're out in the middle of nowhere, do what you want. But not around otheres. I don't want to be stuck behind someone who's coasting to a light going 10mph in the fast lane. Does anyone? Hypermileing is just not on my radar . . . not the reason I bought an Si. Sheesh. Why did I by an Si??? Because driving it like I stole it will still net me @25mpg, instead of 13 to 15 in the v8s I grew up with . . . and with gas at $3.80 a gallon, I can still have some fun in a car. Yup. A good deal of fun, too.
 
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